Many many hs athletes do not transition well in to college life for many reasons This is more relevant to athletes You need to prepare yourself for the fact that some who are used to being the big dog May no even sniff the turf for a few years
And remember You are NOT interviewing for a position, you are the Interviewer. You are the one seeking out what you want, not the other way around.
Top 20 programs own you morning noon and night 365 days a year. You are in that school to play lacrosse period. School is clearly second with kids guided into easy majors they have no interest in. Pick a mid to low D1 or D2 program for a nice lax / school / social life balance. They are still playing a game and in 4 years it is over
Even more reason by very Leary of signing into a D1 program when you are younger Most 8 grade kids have zero idea what they want to be when they grow up Unless you want to enjoy your under water basket weaving degree
The Final 8 teams last year, to the right is their US News Academic Ranking:
1 - Maryland - 57 2 - North Carolina - 30 3 - Syracuse - 61 4 - Duke - 8 5 - Northwestern - 12 6 - Penn State - 47 7 - Princeton - 1 8 - Loyola - 3 - Regional University (North)
The Computer Rankings have the following in the Top 25. Academic ranking to the right:
Florida - 47 Virginia - 26 Boston College - 30 Stony Brook - 89 Stanford - 4 Albany - 129 JMU - 7 - Regional University (South) Notre Dame - 18 Cornell - 15 Penn - 9 Louisville - 168 Hopkins - 10 Southern Cal - 23 UMass - 75 Ohio State - 52 Navy - 9 - National Liberal Arts Colleges Harvard - 2
Some great schools with some really good lacrosse. I don't think all of the girls who attend these schools major in basket weaving. But I guess you are right, why should you challenge yourself? When you are looking to start your career nobody is going to want to hire someone who graduated from a great university and competed at the highest level in a Division 1 sport. Take it easy, have some fun. Go to a school that you can get into without being a lacrosse player. Play club and tell people that you didn't want to work hard.
Six of the Top 10 Universities in the country are Top 25 Lacrosse schools. Why would anyone advise people to take the easy road?
19 of the Top 25 lacrosse schools are considered Top 50 Universities. Challenge yourself, you can do well in the classroom and on the athletic field.
Great schools with great lacrosse where you will get a degree that you can proudly display. But if you want to be a doctor, nurse, engineer or architect you are going to have a problem playing at these schools where its lacrosse first and academics second. This really only affects a handful of kids so its not a big deal unless your kid is one of them. When a 13 or 14 year old verbal's they have no idea what they want to do so its easy to guide them to an approved major. Good luck to all on being one of the first 2020's to verbal!
Does lacrosse come first at:
Princeton Harvard Yale Stanford Duke Penn Hopkins Brown Dartmouth Northwestern Cornell Vanderbilt Notre Dame Georgetown Navy
Some girls may put lacrosse first and I would imagine at NU there is a lot of pressure but I am sure that many of the student athletes from these schools go on to have success in life.
Hate to break it to you, not every kid who goes to a mid tier D1 or D2 or D3 school loves their college experience or goes on to become a huge success.
